2013 Peony 'Honor' Best Performer - Week 2

Peony 'Honor' has been a great performer for me for several years now. You just can't beat this plant's combination of an abundance of early blooms, a neat habit, and the knockout color. Peony 'Honor' blooms quite early here, and is the first in its color range to open for me. The color on this plant is gorgeous, a bright pink that fades into various paler shades as the blooms mature, making an interesting show with various pink color combinations. The plant's foliage is on the petite side, usually growing only about 24" tall. The blooms are well centered on the plants and the stems are close together. Although the foliage on Peony 'Honor' is not large, its stems are upright and close together, not spreading or falling over. If you're looking for an early season peony that performs well in a southern climate, Peony 'Honor' is definitely a very honorable pick!
Peony 'Honor'
Southern Peony Best Performer


Peony 'Honor'
Southern Peony Best Performer

2013 Peony Blooms Early - Week 2

Week 2 of my peony bloom season turned out to be much more colorful than Peony Blooms Very Early - Week 1, with lots more varieties blooming than the week before. Peony 'Lavender', my favorite color of all, bloomed this week too. Also some fuller varieties with more petals per bloom starting blooming this week as well. The peony bloom season seems to build slowly, starting with only a few colors and petals. Over time the range of colors and the number of petals per bloom just keep increasing and increasing. What an amazing show to watch! I hope you're enjoying your peony bloom season this year (or excitedly anticipating it) and don't let it pass you by. Sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in your day to day life and forget to enjoy the abundance and beauty of nature right outside your door!

Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow'	Peony 'Lustrous'
Peony 'Coral Magic'	Peony 'Lavender'

2013 Beautiful Yellow Tree Peony

Well I am definitely not the only lover of peonies in my area (and climate!). I was happily surprised and amazed to see this beautiful yellow tree peony on my way to the post office yesterday. It looks like it is quite old. So they must have had it for some time. What a great specimen! The blooms are super lovely and huge. It seems they also grow herbaceous peonies too, as you can see there are lots of them in bud right in front of the yellow tree peony. This tree peony must have been at least 4-5 feet high. It was planted right in front of a gorgeous dark red/purple Japanese maple tree. The contrast of the colors was so stunning, I just had to pull over and take some photographs. I hope you enjoy them! :-)

Yellow Tree Peony


Yellow Tree Peony and Herbaceous Peonies


Yellow Tree Peony Close Up

2013 P. Rockii Peony Seeds from Cricket Hill Garden

Last week I got the Tree Peony P. Rockii Seeds I ordered from Ebay. They apparently came from Cricket Hill Garden. I wasn't sure, but I thought these seeds might come from a private individual. The seeds came with a very nice catalog from Cricket Hill Garden as well. I think they normally charge $2.00 for a copy of their catalog. So I've never gotten a copy since I don't like to pay for catalogs. It looks like Cricket Hill Garden is using Ebay as a creative marketing tool - sell some seeds, send a free catalog. The catalog actually has some interesting information about Japanese and Chinese tree peonies, which is great since I don't know a lot about the differences and history of both of these type of peonies. So I was very happy to receive the catalog with the seeds. The Ebay auction was for "15 Fresh Tree Peony P. Rockii Seeds USA GROWN", and they actually send 20 seeds. So that was nice of them. I will definitely be leaving them positive feedback on Ebay! I can't wait to see how these grow!
P. Rockii Seeds and Catalog from Cricket Hill Gardens

2013 Peony Blooms Very Early - Week 1

Well the peony bloom season has started nicely here. Even though lots of my early season peony bushes are more mature, the number of blooms is still limited since all of the varieties that have bloomed thus far are hybrids that have only one bloom per stem. So I am definitely looking forward to some of the varieties that sport several blossoms per stem. Also all of these very early varieties are the single type of peonies. This type of peony has only a few petals and a very prominent center showcasing the peony's golden stamens. The blooms are very lovely, and if you haven't learned to appreciate single peony blossoms yet, once you grow them, you will appreciate how well they can withstand rain and not fall over after a storm! If you are looking to increase your peony bloom season, here are some varieties that bloom very early! Enjoy!

Peony 'Chalice'	Peony 'Firelight'
Peony 'Sweet May'	Peony 'Early White'